Vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells, endothelial cells (EC), and pericytes that form the walls of vessels in the microcirculation express a diverse array of ion channels that play an important role in the function of these cells and the microcirculation in both health and disease. This brief review focuses on the K+ channels expressed in smooth muscle and endothelial cells in arterioles. Microva...

Iron importer divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) plays a crucial role in the nigal iron accumulation in Parkinson's disease (PD). Membrane hyperpolarization is one of the factors that could affect its iron transport function. Besides iron, selective activation of the ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels also contributes to the vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons in PD. Interestingly, acti...

ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels have the unique ability to adjust membrane excitability and functions in accordance with the metabolic status of the cell. Skeletal muscles are primary sites of activity-related energy consumption and have KATP channels expressed in very high density. Previously, we demonstrated that transgenic mice with skeletal muscle-specific disruption of KATP channel...

Cardiac preconditioning is the most potent and consistently reproducible method of protecting heart tissue against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. This review discussed about the signaling and amplification cascades from either ischemic preconditioning stimulus or pharmacological preconditioning stimulus, the putative end-effectors and the mechanisms involved in cellular protection. The...

ST elevation is a classical hallmark of acute transmural myocardial ischemia. Indeed, ST elevation is the major clinical criterion for committing patients with chest pain to emergent coronary revascularization. Despite its clinical importance, the mechanism of ST elevation remains unclear. Various studies have suggested that activation of sarcolemmal ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels by i...

BACKGROUND We previously demonstrated that coronary arteriolar dilation in response to acidosis is mediated by the opening of ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels. However, the signal transduction involved in the KATP-channel activation during acidosis has not been elucidated. A recent study in cardiac myocytes implied that pertussis toxin (PTX)-sensitive G proteins may be involved in the si...

BACKGROUND Nociceptive responses to noxious stimuli are initiated at peripheral nociceptor terminals. Ion channels play a vital role in pain signal initiation and conduction. Activation of KATP channels has been implicated in mediating the analgesic effects of agents such as morphine. However, systematic studies regarding the effects of KATP activators on nociception and neuronal excitability a...

Despite antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy, epilepsy remains uncontrolled in around one third of patients. The majority of current AEDs fall into two pharmacological classes, those that modulate neuronal voltage-gated sodium and calcium channels and those that modulate neurotransmitters. There is a need for new AEDs with novel mechanisms of action to serve as adjunct therapy for the treatment of ...

ATP-sensitive K(+) (KATP) channels were originally described in cardiomyocytes, where physiological levels of intracellular ATP keep them in a closed state. Structurally, these channels are composed of pore-forming inward rectifier, Kir6.1 or Kir6.2, and a regulatory, ATP-binding subunit, SUR1, SUR2A or SUR2B. SUR1 and Kir6.2 form pancreatic type of KATP channels, SUR2A and Kir6.2 form cardiac ...

ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channels are expressed in many different tissues including the brain,where they couple energy metabolism to cellular excitability.Although their classical role in insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells is well understood, their neuronal function remains unclear.Now,an important study using knockout mice provides clear evidence that neuronal KATP channels are crucial pla...